Mykonos/Santorini, Santorini/Mykonos, Ho-Hum…Yawn

August 14, 2013

I am sick and tired of hearing about Mykonos and Santorini. There, I said it! Somebody had to.
Yes, they are beautiful islands. Yes, if we had either of those islands here in the United States, I’d go there every weekend. Correction, I’d live there year-round.
But it is extremely irritating to hear non-Greek Americans speak about their visit to Greece, which almost always is comprised of the following itinerary: a far-too-lengthy sightseeing tour of Athens, and trips to Mykonos and Santorini. That’s it. Never mind the other 225 glorious Greek islands. (Actually, there are several thousand Greek islands in total, but according to Greece’s department of tourism, only 227 of them are inhabited.)
Imagine if as an American you encountered folks from all over the world that have visited the United States, and almost all of them had only gone to two places: Boston and Las Vegas. Wouldn’t that begin to drive you crazy after a while?
Don’t get me wrong, Boston and Las Vegas are two very nice cities (just as Mykonos and Santorini are two very nice islands) worthy of visiting, but to enjoy such a disproportionate lion’s share of tourism is absurd.
Here’s how a typical conversation might take place between an American of Greek descent (GA) and a non-Greek American counterpart (NGA):
NGA: You’re Greek, right? We had such a great time in Greece a couple of years ago!
GA: Where did you go?
NGA (pausing): Hmmm, let me think. Ummm….
GA (interjecting): Mykonos?
NGA: Yes! That’s it! And one other place….
GA (interjecting again): Santorini?
NGA: Yes, exactly! How did you know?
Can someone please enlighten me about what is so special about those two Greek islands? Not in terms of their standalone appeal, but in terms of their appeal as compared to the other 225. Why not Andros, Chios, Corfu, Crete, Hydra, Kefallonia, Lemnos, Lesbos, Nisyros, Paros, Rhodes, Samothraki, Sifnos, Skiathos, Thassos, or Zakinthos instead, just to name a few?
Again, it would be no different if a foreign tourist visited the United States, shunned New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, the District of Columbia, the Hawaiian Islands, the Florida Keys, the California Coast, the Rocky Mountains, Maine, and the Grand Canyon, only to land at JFK Airport and head directly, and exclusively, to Boston and Las Vegas. Ridiculous!
It’s no surprise that Kim and the rest of the “Kopykat” Kardashians – who recently and famously did the Mykonos/Santorini Stepford Tour – would toe the line of the typical Hollywood celebrity and not think outside the Cyclades box, but why do the majority of American tourists – presumably more prone to doing their homework ahead of time than the K Sisters – forego, say, the Sporades, the Ionians, or the Dodecanese?
And while we’re at it, Santorini’s real name isn’t even Santorini! It’s Thira (also spelled Thera). And on a related note, there is no such island as Mytiline. The island’s name is Lesbos! Mytiline is its main town. As Kimmy K might say: “what’s up with that?”